The public/private sector partnership responsible for IT
training in the UK said it was confident it would win funding to
become one of the government's new employer-led training
organisations within a matter of months, despite delays to the
government's training reforms.
Karen Price, chief executive of E-Skills UK, said she expected to
get the go-ahead to transform the organisation into one of the
first of the government's flagship sector skills councils in April,
bringing months of uncertainty to an end.
The creation of a sector skills council for IT promises to give
employers greater say over government training policy and the work
of colleges and universities and is likely to mean injections of
cash for employer-led training programmes.
"It will leverage the momentum we have gained. Instead of reaching
tens of thousands [of people] we are going to reach hundreds of
thousands directly. We are also going to be able to work through
many intermediaries to get employers' agenda actioned," said
Price.
The breakthrough follows what critics claim is nearly a year of
delays by the Department for Education and Skills and the Sector
Skills Development Agency.
Few of the former national training organisations that have applied
for sector skills council status are willing to jeopardise their
applications for funding by speaking out publicly, but in private
they scathing.
One concern is that the agency appears to have changed its mind
about the criteria that the former training bodies are expected to
meet to win sector skills council status.
"The Sector Skills Development Agency keeps moving the goalposts.
The agency seems to be on permanent castors," said one official
this week.
The need to integrate the role of the sector skills councils in
England with the priorities of the devolved governments in Scotland
and Wales is understood to be one of the factors behind the
delays.
In April 2002, Computer Weekly reported concerns in the training
industry that unless the sector skills council programme progressed
more rapidly, employers would withdraw their support for the
councils.
Nine months later no sector skills councils have yet been approved.
E-Skills UK said, however, that it had managed to retain the
support of employers, despite what it describes as a four-month
"time in the wilderness".
"I think we have had an unfortunate four months from April to
August where the agenda did stall. It was demoralising. But since
August, it is almost as if we are acting as a sector skills
council. We are growing, doing more, we have got bigger clout and a
bigger voice," said Price.
The Sector Skills Development Agency was unavailable for
comment.